Tosaíonn m’eachtra le teangacha ar oileán beag álainn darb ainm Oileán Mhuirís, atá suite 10,000 ciliméadar uainn in Éirinn. I dtosach báire, déarfaidh mé go bhfuil taithí as an ngnáth agam le teangacha. Is iomaí teanga a bhí timpeall orm ón chliabhán. Labhraíodh mo thuistí liom i bhFraincis. Ar scoil, labhraíodh Fraincis don chuid is mó ach múineadh na hábhair ar fad i mBéarla. Is é Criól príomhtheanga an oileáin, áfach. Chun an meascadh seo a thuiscint níos fearr, ní mór breathnú siar ar choilíniú an oileáin agus ar na hinimircigh a tháinig ó fud na cruinne. Ba san 18ú haois a saolaíodh Criól agus sclábhaithe ag déanamh iarrachta labhairt lena máistrí Francacha. Tháinig teangacha na hÁise ó Gujarat san India agus ón tSín, agus tháinig oibrithe oilte ó Bihar. Glaotar ‘Tír Bhogha Báistí’ orainn agus oireann an t-ainm sin go maith dúinn. Is meascán mearaí é an tOileán Mhuirís de chiní, de chreidimh agus de chúlraí éagsúla. Tá Béarla agus Fraincis líofa ag muintir an oileáin, buntáiste ollmhór a ndéantar talamh slán de go minic. I ndiaidh a bheith mar choilíneacht ag an bhFrainc ar feadh céad bliain, tháinig an t-oileán faoi smacht na Breataine in 1810 i ndiaidh Cath an Phoirt Mhóir, agus síníodh Conradh Pháras in 1814. Bhí sé d’ádh agam neart taistil a dhéanamh ó bhí mé an-óg, agus bíonn daoine i gcónaí ag déanamh iontais go bhfuil mé in ann aistriú ó Bhéarla go Fraincis gan stró dá laghad. Go deimhin, bím ag smaoineamh, fiú amháin, i dteangacha éagsúla, agus tá an rud céanna le feiceáil i nuachtáin agus ar raidió agus teilifís an oileáin. De chúpla bunadh éagsúla mé: cainteoir Criól, Fraincise agus Béarla, ó chúlra Indo-Mhuiríseach, a léann Arabach agus a bhfuil bunUrdúis aici. Tá teangacha ar nós Bhojpuri, Mandairínis, Tamailis, Hiondúis, Maraitis, Gúisearáitis agus Urdúis fós le cloisteáil ar an oileán. Manglam ceart a bhíonn ann ó am go ham, ach is í an éagsúlacht seo a thugann anam don tír agus a spreagann mé le rá de theann bróid, “Muiríseach mé!” My adventure with languages begins in a beautiful little island called Mauritius situated some 10,000 km away. To start, I will say that my experience with languages is pretty impressive. I’ve been, since birth, exposed to a myriad of different languages. My parents would mostly address me in French. At school, the main language we spoke was French, although the different subjects were all taught in English. Yet, the main spoken language on the island is Creole. To better understand this mixture, we need to go back in time to the colonisation of the island and the immigration of people from around the globe to the island. Creole was developed in the 18th century with slaves attempting to speak to their French masters. Asian languages arrived from Gujarat in India and from China, and skilled workers came mostly from Bihar. People often refer to us as a “rainbow nation”. Indeed, this is true. Mauritius is a melting pot of people of different origins, cultural backgrounds and religions. Mauritians are fluent in both French and English. This is a tremendous advantage that we often take for granted. In fact, after being a French colony for a hundred years, Mauritius became a British colony in 1810 after the Battle of Grand Port and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1814. I have had the opportunity to travel a lot since I was a child, and everywhere I have been, people have marvelled at my ability to switch from French to English and vice versa easily and without any confusion whatsoever. As a matter of fact, I think in different languages. This mixture is well depicted in the Mauritian newspapers, radio and TV broadcasts. I am the product of multiple influences - a Creole, French and English speaker of indo-Mauritian origin who reads Arabic and has a basic understanding of Urdu. On the island, languages like Bhojpuri, Mandarin, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Urdu are still spoken by some. It can be a real jumble, but it is in reality this variety that gives the country its peculiarity and motivates me to say with even more enthusiasm, “I am proud to be Mauritian!” 7
TCD Multilingual 2015
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